Running an emergency from an ocean away

Delaware’s Governor and the leader of the state’s most populous county oversaw the emergency snow response this week from outside the state’s borders.

Delaware Governor Jack Markell (D) didn’t get stuck in the snow as the First State went through its second massive snow storm in less than a week.  Markell was in Europe, as part of a previously planned economic development trip.  Markell credits the team of leaders that have responded to this week’s snow storm while he was overseas.  “We’ve got a great team of emergency response personnel.”  Markell says, “They are well coordinated, they speak quite frequently.”  Markell is expected to return from England on Friday.  He had also spent time meeting with business leaders in Germany.

The leader of the state’s most populous county, New Castle County Executive Chris Coons (D) was also out-of-state during the second brutal snowstorm of this week.  Coons was stuck stateside, however, stranded in New York City.  Coons echoed Markell’s comments about the coordination of emergency personnel on the state, county, and local level.  “I’ve been in regular contact with them, and they’ve done a great job of responding to the emergencies that we’ve had and keeping things well managed for the public.”

Markell may speak for the entire state when he says, “We just need to get through this, and I know that everybody’s looking forward to Spring, that’s for sure.”